AT RISK
Latino Experimental Festival Theatre

 

¡LATINOTEATRO 2000!

Performances in Spanish and in English 4 world premieres! 5 theatre companies! 7 productions

This festival by five of NY’s leading Latino theatre companies runs through June 18. Latinoteatro 2000 will present an innovative mix of musical plays, new and classical comedies, and dramas, including: At Risk (in English — see review), a series of three one-act plays about young people surviving inner city dangers and uncertainties; Que Felices Son Las Barbies (in Spanish), a wildly amusing yet profound comedy about a Latina who aspires to be as perfect as her Barbie doll; and Los Titingos de Juan Bobo (in Spanish), a vibrant musical comedy about the well-known Puerto Rican folktales of Juan Bobo. All performances at La Tea Theater at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk St. at Rivington St., in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Students $12. For schedule, directions and reservations, call (212)260-4080 ext16 (English) /Ext. 1 (Spanish).

“Creates an interesting discussion about the right path for a black man in America.”

by Max Joseph (12th grade, Dalton)

In 1979, before winning his Tony Award or either one of his two Pulitzer prizes, playwright August Wilson finished his first play, Jitney, which was to become the 70’s installment of his decade-by-decade chronicle of African-American life in 20th Century America.

Jitney is a perfect example of Wilson’s virtuosity. At the age of 56, Wilson has written a play for each decade from the 1910’s to the 1980’s. Doubling as a sort of dramatic historian, Wilson attempts to represent the African-American experience using complex relationships and vivid characters and setting them against a backdrop of the current events of each decade.

Jitney focuses on a gypsy cab station located in the Hill District in Pittsburgh (where Wilson grew up). The station—a metaphor for the circular and tumultuous journey of African-Americans—is run by Becker. Becker follows the rules that society has given him and over the years has secured a decent job and plenty of respect. However, the city’s inspectors have notified Becker that they will be closing down his station in order to build houses, thus threatening Becker’s livelihood. To top it off, Becker’s forty-year-old son, Booster, is about to be released from jail on parole from a life sentence. Having excommunicated his murderer son, Becker has yet another conflict to deal with when his son confronts him repeatedly at the station. The station’s other drivers, all extremely opinionated, create an interesting discussion about the right path for a black man in America.

Jitney takes place in the 70’s and “the times they are a changin’ ” with the effects of the Civil Rights Movement and the aftermath of the Vietnam War. In the station, Wilson creates the blueprint for many different conflicts: young versus old; father versus son; following the rules versus breaking them or changing them. Wilson champions a reconciliation between radical rebellion against the system and quiet obedience.

Wilson juggles a thousand different perspectives, opinions, and conflicts, employing metaphor, beautiful dialogue and colorful characters. August Wilson’s Jitney has never been seen before in New York City. I urge everyone to go and experience it.

Jitney, by August Wilson, through May 21 at Second Stage Theatre, 307 W. 43rd St. Student rush $11 half hour before show time (Second Stage Theatre says that students have an excellent chance of getting in on student rush.) (212) 246-4422.

by Rosemary Harris (12th grade,Townsend Harris)

To the average teenager, sex, drugs, and violence are not unheard of. The hardships teenagers encounter and the pressures we face were brought to life in At Risk, a production of three one-act plays, with Latin hip-hop. By portraying conditions teenagers live through every day, with a cast of teenaged actors, the Latino Experimental Fantastic Theater was able to connect to its audience.

The first two plays, Mama’s Boy and Now and Then, related to the drug and sex scene in a serious manner. The third play, The Power of Words, dealt with school and education in a light-hearted way. Although AIDS, drugs and dropping out of school are not laughing matters, the characters in each play brought on laughs.

The Latino Cultural Theater’s creation of At Risk was quite a success. The three one-act plays not only kept my interest but touched my heart as well. By seeing how the teenagers on stage interacted with one another and faced the dangers of the world while still having the strength to continue living, it made me think that we as teens often underestimate our abilities.

This wonderful performance began with drugs and murder and ended with a great, uplifting finale. With a combination of Latin music and dancing the show ended with smiles on everyone’s faces. The talent and hard work put into At Risk was clearly evident.

At Risk, a series of three one-act plays by Carmen Rivera, Michael Garces, and Candido Tirado, runs through June 18 as part of the Latinoteatro 2000 theatre festival. Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center, 107 Suffolk Street, between Rivington & Delancey. Students $12. (212) 606-2310.

The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds her Chameleon Skin:

an interview with playwright/composer Kirsten Childs

by Georgia Warner (11th grade, Beacon H.S.)

“She is trying desperately to fit into two cultures that she doesn’t fit into — her own African American community and the white community at large.“

The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin is a new musical by Kirsten Childs. Infused with the sounds of pop, jazz, and Motown, it dramatizes a girl’s journey towards self-acceptance in the face of conflicting messages about gender, race and relationships.

Georgia: What is The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds her Chameleon Skin about?

Kirsten: It’s a coming of age story about a girl growing up in the early 60’s. The story on one level is that she wants to become a dancing star. But the real story is that she is trying desperately to fit into two cultures that she doesn’t fit into — her own African American community and the white community at large. It’s about all the contradictory things that people within her community and outside her community tell her she is supposed to be. She tries to be them, but she’s not doing too well. The show is filled with her comedic observations on how you’re supposed to behave in a certain way in a certain culture and how you’re supposed to behave in another culture.

Georgia: Is it a comedy?

“I have been a chameleon all my life... pretty common for people who feel like they don’t really fit in, but who adapt to the situation to survive or to succeed.”

Kirsten: It’s a bittersweet comedy. There are serious moments, very serious moments. But it’s mostly a comedy.

Georgia: Where does the title come from?

Kirsten: I have been a chameleon all my life. I think that’s been pretty common for a lot of people who feel like they don’t really fit in, but who adapt to whatever the situation is to survive or to succeed. You don’t want to be seen as someone who is betraying your race. You become whatever it takes so that people don’t ignore you or ostracize you. So you’re a chameleon. I’ve always had this persona that was very bubbly and would smile a lot. Deep inside you have this different persona, but you’re afraid to show it.

Georgia: The press release says it takes place during the turbulent sixties. Why “turbulent”?

Kirsten: The story starts at a very traumatic point in the girl’s life, which is the bombing of the four girls in the Birmingham Church during the Civil Rights Movement. It’s a very important moment in civil rights history, but to a little black girl in Los Angeles it said that even in your church you’re not safe.

Georgia: How much of this is a memoir?

Kirsten: Surprisingly less than it used to be, which makes me very happy.... When someone suggested that it be a musical, it freed me up to create a story that allowed me to say things more freely. Now I can say anything I want. There are certain things that are mentioned in the piece that I was afraid to say since I was a little girl, and I decided that the best way to liberate myself was to just speak it. Speak the words. So I finally said these things that I just knew would make people gasp in horror and turn their faces away from me and never speak to me again. And then people came up to me and said “I felt exactly the same way.” And once that happened it was so liberating it just made me want to speak more. It made me want to speak the truth as I know it.

The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin by Kirsten Childs, May 26 through July 9, at Playwrights Horizons, 416 W. 42nd St. $15 student rush, two hours before curtain. Call (212) 279-4200 for schedule and information.

By Alexis Georgiou (11th grade, LaGuardia H.S)

Hopefully his name rings a bell. Matthew Shepard was the twenty-one-year-old gay college student who was brutally murdered by two homophobic men on October 7th, 1998. His killers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, confessed to the murder and were sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Laramie Project, the latest endeavor of the Tectonic Theater Company, details the aftermath of Shepard’s murder in the small town in Wyoming where he was killed. In a semi-journalistic form, eight actors portray a multitude of people residing in Laramie whose lives were permanently affected by the hate crime. Tectonic Theater’s founder and playwright, Moises Kaufman, spent a year interviewing the townspeople of Laramie, Wyoming.

“The Laramie Project ultimately questions whether the nation has changed as a result of Matthew Shepard’s death. This is a play that everyone needs to see.”

His company re-turned to Wyoming six additional times in order to obtain more information for their script. By the time they had finished, over two hundred interviews had been conducted. The play is largely based on transcribed dialogue from these conversations. The structure of the script includes media reports and official court transcripts as well as specific portrayals of several key characters in this real-life mid-western tragedy. Matthew Shepard is not represented and neither are his killers. Among those portrayed are the Reverend Fred Phelps (who protested Shepard’s funeral, carrying posters which read ‘God Hates Fags’), and Dennis Shepard, Matthew’s father, who, after confronting Aaron McKinney in the courtroom, requested that his son’s killer not be sentenced to the death penalty. The Laramie Project takes a close look at homophobia, and also attempts to unravel the blend of anger, confusion, and embarrassment that the town left behind.

The play does not condone or condemn; it merely gives a voice to the townspeople who were largely misrepresented by the media. The Laramie Project ultimately questions whether the nation has changed as a result of Matthew Shepard’s death. This is a play that everyone needs to see.

The Laramie Project, by Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Company, open-ended run at Union Square Theatre, 100 E. 17th St. Through May 17, rush tickets on day of show cost $20. (Rush tickets will be $25 after May 17). (212) 307-4100.

indicates Play by Play Pix: student recommendation or editor’s choice.

Free-$5

Gorilla Rep Theatre

Outdoor productions of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Twelfth Night. In rep May 4-June 25. Fort Tryon Park (The Cloisters). Free. (212) 330-8086.

High 5

Provides tickets to teens for $5 (Fri.-Sun.) and 2 tickets for $5 (Mon.-Thurs.) throughout the city. 212-HI-5-TKTS. www.high5tix.com.

Lower East Side Festival of the Arts
Fifth annual indoor & outdoor celebration demonstrating creative explosion of the Lower East Side. May 26-28. In & around Theatre for the New City, 155 First Ave. Free. (212) 254-1109.

NYU Graduate Acting Program
Lie of the Mind by Sam Shepard: violence and love in America. Aristocrats by Brian Friel: tensions in Irish family after break-up of estate. In repertory May 11-14. Atlas Room Theatre, 111 Second Ave. Students $3. (212) 998-1921.

Repertorio Español
New and classic plays performed in Spanish with simultaneous English translation. Gramercy Arts Theatre, 138 E. 27 St. Selected performances $5 through High 5. (212) Hi5-TKTS. Also $20 student tickets available for all performances. (212) 889-2850 or visit www.repertorio.org.

$6-$10